Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to scribe lines for separating dies on a semiconductor wafer, and more specifically to dry scribing utilizing scribe lanes or trenches in separating the dies on the semiconductor wafer.
Description of the Related Art
An acoustic transducer, such as a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone of a capacitive type, generally includes a detection structure or sensor having a moveable or mobile electrode in the form of a diaphragm or membrane that is arranged facing a fixed electrode. The two electrodes together form the plates of a capacitor. The mobile electrode is generally anchored to a substrate at a perimeter portion of the mobile electrode. A central portion of the mobile electrode is not anchored to the substrate but is suspended over a cavity or chamber formed in the substrate, and is free to move or bend in response to the pressure of a sound wave incident upon a surface of the mobile electrode. Since the mobile electrode and the fixed electrode form a capacitor, bending of the membrane that forms the mobile electrode causes a variation in the value of the capacitance of the capacitor formed by the mobile and fixed electrodes. In operation, sound waves incident upon the mobile electrode cause variations in the capacitance of the MEMS microphone. These variations in capacitance are converted into an electrical signal indicative of the incident sound wave, and this electrical signal is supplied as an output signal of the MEMS microphone.
The manufacturing of MEMS microphones may be done through conventional semiconductor processing techniques. Thus, as with the formation of conventional integrated circuits, the manufacturing of the sensor includes the formation of a number of the sensors on a semiconductor wafer. Each of these sensors may be termed a die on the semiconductor wafer and must be separated as part of forming the individual sensors for individual MEMS microphones. Typically, separating or dicing these individual sensors is done through a laser cutting process and there is a need for improving this laser cutting process.